1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a unit for processing industrial rubber and plastic waste in a physico-chemical way.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The current machines for processing rubber and plastic waste are either mechanical only or they process waste in a physical-chemical way by means of gases or under extreme physical conditions, e.g. under high or extra low temperatures.
One of the methods of rubber waste liquidation is the process according to the WO-94/07670 patent, which uses liquid nitrogen as a gas medium, evaporates and thus causes extremely low temperatures, which cause rubber hardening. This method is disadvantageous in that it is highly energy-consuming and outstandingly corn plicated as regards to engineering equipment. The equipment that we claim works at atmospheric temperatures on a totally different physical-chemical basis, the gas medium is not nitrogen, but ozone. A total difference of mechanism configuration and detailed arrangement of the production line, which is the subject matter of our patent claim, follows from it.
The disadvantage of all these systems known so far is a considerable energy consumption of both the mechanical way and the preparation of physical-technical conditions under which the waste is processed. These systems often pollute the environment and there is often a problem to separate the single parts of various materials after the waste is processed.
Ecological operation of those systems is also questionable due to initial investments and operational costs.
The invention of the unit for industrial rubber and plastic waste using the physical-chemical way eliminates the above mentioned disadvantages.
The unit consists of a gastight chamber, in which two rows of rollers are located: the upper and lower ones. The processed waste passes between them, from the input to the output openings of the chamber. The lower bearings of rollers are firmly fixed whereas the upper ones are movable and are attached by means of springs which press them on the passing waste. Both the rows of rollers counter-rotate.
In the alternative type the upper rollers have projections on the surface and there is an input area on the outer front wall of the chamber with a lifting closure, on the opposite outer wall there is an output area with the output lifting closure. Both those areas are provided with gas pipes and are separated from the chamber by lifting closures. On the outer bottom wall of the chamber there is a discharge chute with the outer lifting closure and a gas pipe. The chute is separated from the chamber by a lifting closure.
The advantageous type consists of at least two joined unit-built chambers. The input area with the input lifting closure is on one front outer wall of the unit and the output area with the output lifting closure is on the opposite front outer wall of the unit. In another alternative type there is a worm conveyer on the bottom wall inside the unit. The discharge chute is located under the outer front wall of the last chamber.
The roller bearings, which are outside the chambers, have flat packings pressed by a spring to the chamber wall at the spot where the shafts enter the chamber wall.
The upper and lower rollers are driven by joint shafts, whose bearings, located outside the chambers, can be moved on a frame and are provided with sprockets. The chain runs from them to the driving sprocket of the unit engine and the gearbox. Each upper roller and each lower roller can be driven by the driving engine, which operates independently, and is electronically controlled. The opening and closing times of all the closures can be electronically controlled in an interactive specified sequence.
In the next alternative type the upper and lower rollers are driven by joint shafts whose bearings are located on a frame outside the chambers and whose other ends are provided with toothed wheels mating with idlers and a drive toothed wheel.
The unit uses the erosive effect of gas simultanously with the mechanical processing of waste. The main working parts of the unit are two rows of rollers which move forward and simultanously deform the processed waste. The process takes place in a closed gastight chamber continuously, i.e. without any stop or breaks of the working cycles and under constant presence of gas as a working medium. The input and output areas, from which it is possible to exhaust gas in intervals given by the progress of the process, enable non-stop operation. After gas exhaustion it is possible to fill the input or output area with atmospheric air and thus enable either uninterrupted ecological supply of waste or product of f take after processing.
All drive mechanisms of the unit are placed outside the chamber. This placement reduces the exposure of the drive mechanisms to the erosive effect of gas within the chamber which is used in the processing of the waste as described above. In addition, placement of the drive mechanisms outside the chamber permit the adjustment of the rollers and their working movement independently of one another.